The Root of Don Guanella's Charity (and of ours) is the gaze to God served in the poor. Discovering the contemplative dimension of Guanellian life
of Father Umberto Brugnoni, Superior General of the Servants of Charity
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:17).
Dear readers of To serveGreetings from the birthplace of Saint Luigi Guanella in Fraciscio (SO), at an altitude of 1310 meters. Together with five other Guanellian brothers and three Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, we spent ten days of intense spiritual contemplative life. In recent years, the Guanellian Family has been devoting itself to discerning whether the contemplative dimension is an integral part of the charism, entrusted by the Holy Spirit first to Father Luigi Guanella and now to us Guanellians.
Charity and care for the poor are certainly the cornerstone of the Guanellian charism, and across five continents, the entire Guanellian Family is bearing convincing and particularly sensitive witness to this closeness to the poor, welcoming, listening, and promoting them in all aspects of their lives. The Holy Spirit has inspired us for the poor, and our personal and community lives have meaning precisely to the extent that we live out our dedication and service to them.
But the question we asked ourselves during those days of discernment and experience in Fraciscio is this: for whom are we doing this?
The first answer was: for the poor themselves! But only insofar as they are the concrete image of the Lord. In this regard we recalled the words of Don Guanella who recommended that we serve "the poor and the suffering, in whom the image of the Savior is most alive" (Regulation of the Servants of Charity, 1905).
We were not attracted and induced to dedicate our lives to the Opera Don Guanella because we are moved by the poor, because we are moved by their presence, because we have a heart sensitive to their plight. All of this is there, but the fundamental motivation, what convinced us to leave everything and dedicate our lives to the least of our brothers and sisters, is love for God. Don Guanella was totally convinced of this and, in fact, said of himself that he was not a philanthropist, a lover of humanity, but a missionary, someone sent by God to the poor.
You understand, friends, that this changes everything and directs life not so much toward the poor, but toward God, who then sends us to the poor. We go to them and work for them in his name, not in our own! Here lies the full richness and meaning of our service to the poor. We are God's hand, heart, and concern for them.
In the Holy Mass of May 1st, the liturgy of the Word, with the passage from St. Paul to the Colossians, was extremely clear: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Col 3:17).
This was our reflection in the contemplative life experience we had in Fraciscio, which, if necessary, will lead us to rethink the charitable service we provide. Always with one overriding question: for whom are we doing this? In whose name are we willing to remain a lifelong companion, a brother or sister with a physical or mental disability, a lonely elderly person often deprived of a loving family, a young man or woman cruelly tested in their early life experiences? The answer is: we do it for God!
And so, we must certainly give God the most and best of our days in service to our brothers and sisters, to whom he sends us, but even before that, in prayer, in contemplation of his Word, in the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, in nourishing our poverty with the Eucharist that transforms us in him. If Christ and his example motivate us to love and serve the least, what is the reason for all this?
I like to continue with the passage from Paul to the Colossians already quoted: "Whatever you do, work at it heartily, for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Serve the Lord, who is Christ."
What we do for Christ is never without reward, and what a reward! Eternal life, being with him, the happiness that never ends! Dear friends, readers of To serveDuring this time of preparation for the Solemnity of Pentecost, you too may accept St. Paul's invitation, which Pope Leo XIV also addressed to us several times: to place Christ at the center of our lives, as the guiding motivation for our daily words and actions. Have a good summer, and wherever you go, if you seek him, God awaits you!